Craft

Idea Request

by Chela's Colchas y Mas

This morning, as I was looking through my fabric stash, I ran across two fat quarter bundles of Halloween/Autumn fabric. One bundle is more Halloween with cats, spiders, and pumpkins. The other has some spiders and skulls, and autumn foliage and design fabric. At first, I thought I could combine the two bundles, but on second thought, I don’t think they would fit. One is in brighter, cartoon-ish colors. The other is muted in color and more artistic than cartoon-ish. I do have some black and also orange grunge that could possibly go with the more muted bundle. I also have some black and white polka dot that would go with the other bundle.
I have been looking through my books and online for some ideas to make a throw quilt using one of these bundles. I have found some cute free patterns for making spiders or pumpkin blocks that could be incorporated with either of these bundles. I would appreciate any ideas or suggestions you may have in how to utilize these fat quarters.
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Bird Spirit

by Chela's Colchas y Mas

It has been a day of steady rain. At first, I thought the weather might make it harder to get through the day. But it turns out that the rain had a very calming effect.
Also, today was great because I got to communicate with my all three of my sons. My granddaughter and I had a great Zoom chat. We shared facts, jokes, and conversation. We did some fun word games together. My baby grandson made a visit on this chat, along with his parents. One of the best parts of this chat was the drawing activities. My granddaughter and I do different types of art activities each time we chat. Today, we decided to just each draw what we wanted as we talked. Then we shared. I was very impressed with my granddaughter’s piece. She drew a bird rising up into the sky. She entitled this piece, Bird Spirit. I asked if she could send me a photo of her drawing. I was so inspired by it and I wanted to try to create it with fabric. Since she drew it in pencil, I asked what colors she would want me to use. Teal is one of her favorite colors, and that is what she wanted for the bird. She asked for a green landscape and an orange and yellow sun. The background was supposed to be black on the top and getting lighter towards the sun. When I showed her my fabric piece, I thanked her for the inspiration. I also told her that it was my interpretation of her art, so it would not be exactly like hers. She responded by saying that it was almost exactly how she saw her drawing.
The art for today is very simple, but very special.

Thank You

by Chela's Colchas y Mas

Mariss, of Fabrications, posted the question I have been asking myself…“Should I be writing about the fun I am having with fabric and thread during these sombre and scary times?”
Thank you, Mariss. I agree that writing nothing at all is not a good alternative. I believe we need to continue with our art and crafts in order to stay emotionally healthy during these times. Reading posts and viewing the work of others is something I look forward to doing each day. We need to take care of ourselves, in order to take care of others. Thanks to everyone who continues to post and share.

I am sharing Today’s Art for April 2 and 3. For April 2, I used scraps to make a fabric collage of a house. The text fabric had some words I thought fitting for these times: Home Sweet Home; Hello Life! ; Create. Making this piece was a form of a Gratitude prayer for me.
On April 2, I had Zoom time with my granddaughter. I recently read about the hacking problems with this online tool, so I do not know if I will be having other Zoom sessions. I will be talking to my sons about this. On our chats, we include drawing activities. This time, we also wrote an acrostic poem. When we draw, we take turns giving directions on drawing something. Sometimes, we start with the same basic shape and each draw something based around this shape. On this  particular day, she was wearing her owl robe. I could see her head bobbing up and down as she was drawing. I could not help but chuckle every time I saw her owl head. I pen sketched it and showed it to her. Then, today, I decided to thread sketch it and make a square. I wanted to capture this precious memory on fabric.
Last spring, my friends and I went on a bluebonnet outing. The bluebonnets in Texas are a beautiful site.  My second project for today was embroidering some bluebonnets.
I also spent some time working on my 1 1/2 inch square quilt. I cut more fabric, and completed one block.
Take care, everyone.

Today’s Art: March 31, 2020

by Chela's Colchas y Mas

Trying to find a silver lining in each day.
Daily art projects.
I found this tutorial on Youtube by Handiworks.
Allergies have put a halt to my walks.
So, I have to embroider flowers instead of seeing them up close.
My mother always tried me to get interested in embroidery.
She created beautiful embroidery art.
I tried it a few times and never got into it.
Now, I find it to be a soothing way to pass the time.
I still have a lot to learn.
The back of the embroidered pieces my mother created were clean and perfect.
I am definitely not there…but I’ll keep working on it.
Hope you are doing well.

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March 30, 2020

by Chela's Colchas y Mas

Beginning another week of isolation. My Meemaw friends and I are trying to set up some type of chat time, probably with Zoom.
This morning, I made an interactive lesson board for my grandson using Thinglink . This is an online tool that allows you to post interactive activities on one board. I used this when I was teaching and I thought it might be helpful to make one for my grandson. I based it on the curriculum calendar that his teacher provided. I found reading, math, science, and creative activities on Youtube and added the links to the Thinglink board I set up. Thinglink is a very easy tool to use, and the link above is a short tutorial on how to make one. I thought sharing this information might help some of you who want to connect with your grandchildren or others.

I also worked on today’s art. I pulled out more tiny scraps to play with and collage a piece. I already had leftover fabric and batting from a quilt, so I used that for the main block. The birdie came out a bit hefty in this piece.

Today’s Art March 28-29

by Chela's Colchas y Mas

Thanks to technology, I have had a great day. I was able to have a Zoom chat with my three siblings. My brother in Seattle, younger sister in Austin, and my older sister here in San Antonio. Lots of laughing.
This past Friday, my calendar reminded me that I was supposed to be in Round Rock for Grammy time starting this weekend and throughout all next week. Since that cannot be, the next best thing was being able to Zoom chat with my granddaughter. We challenged each other to learn a new fact to share each time we chat. We also get to draw together. Then, I was able to Facetime with my grandson.
After some morning exercise, I find myself looking through scraps to see what I can make. Yesterday, I made a fabric collage art piece that was inspired by a photo my sister, Emma, sent me. It was a photo of a butterfly in the midst of Emma’s lantana. I have a box of tiny scraps that were just perfect for this. I just cut, pasted, and basted the fabric onto a quilt sandwich block. I added embroidery stitches for some texture.
For today’s art, I made a simple heart with stitching.
Just doing my best to stay positive.
Hope all of you are doing well.

Today’s Art

by Chela's Colchas y Mas

These are difficult times for all of us. In an attempt to stay hopeful and keep anxiety levels down, I start my day with a walk. There is something about the sound of birds and the beauty of trees that make me feel like everything will be okay. One of my daughter-in-laws sent me a picture of two birds that were perched on the fence in her backyard. My sister sent me a photo of a butterfly landing in her lantana. My friend, Nancy, posts beautiful photos of the flowers in her garden. I appreciate receiving and seeing such beautiful thoughts and photos.
On this morning’s walk, a little black bird flew to the ground right in front of me. It had a blackish top and back, with a reddish throat and grayish belly. I shared the description with my friend, Marti, who is an expert on birds. I did not have enough information to give her, so she made some guesses. I also looked on some bird identification sites. The bird that mostly fit the description of what I saw was a juvenile barn swallow. I really don’t know for sure what it was. All I know is that it was pretty and it lifted my spirits.
I drew the shape of the bird on muslin. Then I cut pieces from my fabric scrap box to make a collage.  The gray and white scrap I used was actually part of the selvage. I glued on the fabric pieces and then sewed the outline of the bird. Then, I cut the bird and glued it onto a green fabric that was backed by batting and muslin. Stitching was done to add details to the bird. I placed another piece of fabric, front sides together and sewed around the sides, leaving an opening to turn inside out.
I hope all of you are doing well.
Stay healthy.
Stay hopeful.

Embroidered Jewelry

by Chela's Colchas y Mas

I went through a few days of making thread sketch inchies, twinchies, and rinches. For some of these inchies, I added a clasp on the back to make a small brooch. I researched different ways to use the inchies for making jewelry. Back before this virus, on one of my shopping trips, I looked for different pendants. I could not find anything that readily fit what I had already made, either in shops or on Amazon. I particularly wanted to make a pendent out of the owl inchie I had thread sketched for my granddaughter. I contacted my friend, Nancy, because she is a great resource for ideas, websites, and just about everything. She told me about Heather Bailey. I purchased the tiny stitches embroidered jewelry kit. The kit included different transfers, cloth, embroidery thread, needle, hoop, and two pendant necklaces. I chose the owl transfer and made the pendant today.
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March 22, 2020

by Chela's Colchas y Mas

I try to keep abreast of the latest information about Covid 19 that is necessary to stay safe, but it becomes overwhelming. I wish the best for all of you, and hope you are safe and well.
In order to keep things in balance, I try to keep busy. I alternate exercising, watching movies, and working in my sewing room.
I have been keeping busy making small crafts and working on quilts. The  Scrappy Rectangle quilt I made in February for one of my nephews is quilted and ready for me to bind. This quilt pattern was designed by Jo Parott. I have not gotten to the binding yet, but I did start and finish piecing a second scrappy quilt top for my other nephew. The designer for this quilt is Amy Walsh. My friend, Linda, will be longarming it for me when things get back to normal.
Since January, I have been cutting 1 1/2 inch blocks from all of my scraps to make a scrappy quilt. I started to put one block together so I could see if I really wanted to do this. I like the way it looks, so I will continue working on this scrappy quilt.
I am also cutting some 2″ x 3 1/2″ blocks to make another Scrappy Rectangle quilt.
Besides these in-progress scrappy quilts, I made a fabric book for my grandbaby. My granddaughter loves to read to him, so they will both enjoy this book. I love the Bear books by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman. The fabric panel was the Bear Sees Color book. It is from Elizabeth’s Studio.
I’ve been keeping in touch with my sons and family. We share photos and Facetime to keep in touch. Today would have been my dad’s 100th birthday! My siblings and I shared memories.
Hang in there, everyone!
Stay Safe.